Hair curlers



March 17, 1970 M.' F ERENS HAIR GURLERS Filed July 19, 1968 INVENToRMarcello Ferens United States Patent O1 ce 3,500,837 Patented Mar. 17,1970 3,500,837 HAIR CURLERS Marcella Ferens, P.0. Box 84, Darragh, Pa.

Filed July 19, 1968, Ser. No. 746,182 Int. Cl. A45d 2/14 U.S. Cl. 132-403 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to haircurlers and particularly to a hair curler suitable for use in publicbeauty salons.

The increased popularity of the use of beauty treatments and cosmeticsby the public has led to a rapid eX- pansion of the beauty salonindustry. The operators of these salons have sought a hair curler foruse in permanent waves and hair sets which would meet the requirementsof rapid manipulation and effective holding.

One device which has been used in curling human hair is a curlergenerally comprising a cylindrical casing formed by a coiled spring, anet surrounding the casing and a brush having bristles projectingradially from a central core said brush being dimensioned to be insertedinside of the casing. When assembled, the brush bristles protrudeslightly beyond the casing and serve as spikes to engage the hair as itis rolled upon the casing. This curler has been used by beauty salonsbecause of its simplicity of operation and its good holding ability; butthere are shortcomings attendant with its use.

One disadvantage of the curler just described is that the protrudingbristles have a tendency to prick the scalp when the curler is securedclose to the head. The principal disadvantage in the use of abrush-encased curler in public beauty salons is that it is difficult tosanitize. When used on successive patrons dandmlf and other foreignmatter collects on the brush bristles and on the net surrounding thecoiled spring thereby producing an un'sanitary condition. Efforts todevise an effective cleaning technique have been unsuccessful. On thisbasis, some licensing boards for public beauty salons have found thecurler objectionable.

The present invention provides a hair curling device which eliminatesthe problem of sanitizing curlers in public beauty salons because it isdisposable, yet it enjoys the advantages of ease of operation andeffective holding characteristics.

I provide a hair curler comprising a perforated hollow cellulose tubeopen at each end and a strip of resilient, sponge-like material fixed atone end to one end of the tube and adapted to pass over hair curled onthe tube and have its opposite end inserted in the end of the tubeopposite the fixed end of said strip. Preferably, the tube has aplurality of spaced notches formed in one end and the strip ofsponge-like material is fixed to the end of the tube opposite the endhaving said notches. I prefer to provide that the sponge-like materal isfoam rubber.

In the foregoing general description of the invention, I have set outcertain advantages, purposes and objects of this invention. Otherobjects, purposes and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE l is an isometric view of a curler according to my invention witha portion of the curler body broken away to show interior structure;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view of the curler of FIG- URE l rotatedaxially degrees and turned end-to-end showing the beginning of thecurling operation; and

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view ofI the curler in the same orientation asin FIGURE 2 showing the completed curl on the curler.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a hollow cellulose tube 10having perforations 12. Preferably the tube 10 is constructed offour-ply paper. The length and diameter of the tube 10 can be of anyconvenient and desired dimensions although generally the length will beabout three inches and the diameter about one inch. Attached to one end18 of tube 10 is a strip of resilient sponge-like material 14.Preferably the strip of spongelike material 14 isfoamed material such asfoamed natural ruber, foamed synthetic rubber, foamed polyurethane,foamed polystyrene and the like. The strip of spong-like material 14 isdimensioned to exceed the length of tube 10 when attached thereto. Thepreferable amount of excess is about one-half of the tube length. Thewidth of the strip may be as desired but I have found that a width equalto about one-fourth of the circumference of the tube is convenient. Themanner and position of attachment of the sponge-like strip 14 to thetube 10 may vary. I have shown one technique in FIG. l. There thesponge-like strip 14 is cemented to the interior surface 11 of tube 10.Preferably the opposite end 16 of the tube 10 from the end 18 to whichthe sponge-like strip 14 is attached hasv notches 20 formed therein forreasons which will appear below.

The operation of the curler is as follows:

The end of the hair 22 is placed on the tube 10 and rolled around thetube 10. When the curl has been completed, the sponge-like strip 14 ispassed over the completed curl. A slight amount of tension is applied tothe strip 14 and the end 24 is forced into the open end 16 of the tube10 opposite its connection with the strip 14. The notches 20 help toprevent slippage of the strip 14. When desired, the end 24 of the strip14 is removed from the hollow end 16 of the tube 10 and the `hairunwound from the curler. The curler may be disposed of or usedrepeatedly in the same manner.

The curler of this invention represents an improvement over the curlerdescribed in my U.S. Patent No. 2,972,994. That structure isadvantageous in that it eliminates the need for removal of the curlerbetween the steps of treating with curling solution and neutralizingduring a permanent wave treatment. It also eliminates the undesirableindentation in the hair caused by conventional tie devices on haircurlers. The present invention equally enjoys these advantages with thefurther advantage of overcoming the problem of slipping of the curlerwhich sometimes occurred with the curler of U.S. Patent No. 2,972,994.The hank of wool described in the patent was not resilient and thereforehad a tendency to slip from its frictional engagement inside of thetube. The hair rolled around the tube would then become less tightlycurled and the effectiveness of the curling operation would thereby beimpaired. The use of a resilient, sponge-like strip in the presentinvention overcomes that shortcoming.

I claim:

1. A disposable hair curler comprising a perforated hollow paper tubeand an elongated strip of resilient, sponge-like material having one endthereof attached to an end portion of said tube, said strip having alength which substantially exceeds the length of said tube such that thefree end of said strip may be passed over hair curled on said tube andtucked into one end of said tube frictionally engaging the interiorsurface of said tube, whereby said resilient, sponge-like material issecurely held within the hollow of said tube.

3 4 2. A hair curler as recited in claim 1 wherein said FOREIGN PATENTSSponge-like material S foam rubber. 621,686 4/1949 England.

3. A hair curler a's recited in claim 2 wherein the width cf saidelongated strip of resilient, sponge-like r'naterial 1:. BARRY SHAY,Primary Examiner 1s at least one-fourth of the circumference of saidtube. 5 I. W. MITCHELLASSiStam Examiner References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 2,732,845 1/ 1956 Winkler 132-42

